Date published

September 18, 2018

Resume examples and tips for every situation

Author

Woods & Co

There are plentiful resume examples and templates out there online for people to use. Millions of guidelines on ‘how to write a resume’ or skills to present in them. However, with the vast range of approaches and methodologies in differing industries, what is the correct way to make a resume for every situation?

Resumes are an integral marketing document for individuals seeking to initiate or progress their career; or for those simply seeking a new role. The resume has undertaken extensive transitions and changes over the years to adapt to the Australian labour market demands. It is ideal to specify a resume for a position in a certain industry yet having a general CV for handy for anyone to look at is critical in person branding and exposure.

Ensuring that a general resume template has clear, concise, and easy to read language and information is the most important factor. Looking at resume examples of plain English and simple formatting will support any readers comprehension of your skills and integrity within their organisation. Once you perfect that part of writing your resume, consider the following recommendations to take it the next step further.

Write in the first person perspective.

You want others to comprehend thoroughly what it is you achieved or were tasked with in previous positions. Writing in the first person without a personal reference is incredibly powerful and persuasive to any reader. Through this manner, you are ensuring that emphasises relies on what is being said rather than who it is said by. The reader of your resume will find a sense of objectivity in your writing, allowing the facts to be quite clear, prolific, and highlighting your best qualities. Following this guideline will improve your resume writing skills substantially and follow many conventional templates and examples that employers expect.

Keep things looking neat and tidy – reflect your work ethic.

You must always keep any CV as accessible and understandable as virtually possible. The best way to do this is through short and effective bullet points. Listing items like your best skills, experience in the work place, and prominent qualifications will not only make it easy to read, but make the important facts stand out. A reader is more likely to immediately look for these key resume factors and having them quite clearly labelled by bullet pointing will be a massive bonus. Additionally, keep the rest of the text spaced out as suitable as you can. If you think text looks clunky, bulky, or too spaced apart – odds are it probably is. Go with your gut and make sure all content in your CV is near the equivalent of templates and examples online.

Use relevant key words and language

As simple as a resume needs to be, you don’t want it reading like a children’s picture book. Make sure to familiarise yourself with key phrases and words in the business and career sphere. Using terms like ‘interpersonal communication’ rather than ‘good with talking to people’ will improve your credibility and intelligence on paper. Writing down you are ‘really good at doing things on time and getting places on time’ won’t read nearly as impressively as ‘punctual and organised’. Using these skill terms and phrases will help conventionalise your resume as well as make any reader feel like they are looking at the resume of a qualified candidate. Don’t be confused – you don’t want to go all out and use the largest and most complex words possible. This isn’t an academic thesis, but purely a piece of paper to communicate simply and intelligently how suitable you are as a potential employee. This is perfect to generalise your resume for various industries yet keep it feeling specific to the employer.

Provide enough evidence of wide qualifications and roles

When writing a resume for any situation, you want to ensure your qualifications and experience are relevant. A slight oxymoron, however, when done correctly is a powerful advantage. Limit your employment history to the last ten to fifteen years of work and career progression. It will always be up to the reader to confirm the relevance of all employment history, although you can omit and select certain roles and use specific language to make responsibilities more varied. Soft skills are often quite important and versatile from job to job. Using terms like ‘incredibly accommodating and professional’ or ‘uses appropriate business ethics in the workplace’ can be used as an impressive trait for any position. Technical skills are slightly trickier, naturally being specific to certain roles. Make sure to highlight the most difficult technical skills and qualifications you have, as well as the most basic. Basic refers to ability in Microsoft Office, Adobe, emailing software, web building, and more. These are all often required in various jobs and can be handy on any resume.

These recommendations will solidify your resume writing skills and your CV will be useful for any situation. Employers will see your resume and not assume it is another one to throw into the endless pile of candidates. Build an amazing and outstanding resume that sticks out from the templates and examples.